Frozen Hearts and Dark Pasts
by black-hearted-criminal
Summary: Prequel to Electricity. Kairi's past and reasons for joining Akatsuki are revealed.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Kairi, Kaiyo and the storyline is mine.**_

Frozen Hearts and Dark Pasts - Part One

Cold eyes surveyed a colder world. Frozen depths analysed the darkness. The lone figure watched for the slightest movement in the freezing night. Ice chips flicked to the left as the silhouette shifted ever so slightly. Two people were approaching out of the depths of the shadows. The lone figure remained where it was, before striding forwards into the light of a lonely street lamp. The flickering light cast shadows over the person's features, but the two approaching could easily tell that it was a female. Dark hair covered half of her face, and the other remained in shadow. A single, bright eye gleamed at them from the darkness.  
"Kairi-chan." One of the newcomers greeted her.  
"Kisame-kun." She replied calmly. The third figure remained in silence. He lingered just outside the circle of light, yet his features could still be picked out. A scarlet eye raked over her as she watched him, midnight hair was pulled back into its customary ponytail, and the crimson ring on his finger gleamed in the flickering light.  
"Itachi-kun." She said quietly, inclining her head.  
"Kairi." He replied, looking away.  
"Shall we move on?" Kisame sought the approval of his two team mates.  
"Hai." Kairi sighed.

She watched the sunset from her position on a wide bough above a swift-flowing river. She could see for miles. It reminded her of home. Violently, she shook her head, ridding herself of those memories. She didn't need to be plagued by those thoughts. Pulling her knees to her chin, she tried to think of other things. Her thoughts fell on Itachi, sitting in their campsite with Kisame fifty feet below her. He confused her. Not many people did that. Very few in fact. And those that did, ended up dead by her hand. She groaned in defeat as her thoughts went full circle back to her original musings. Fine. If she was going to reminisce, then she'd do it away from the others.

Scarlet eyes tracked the lack of movement around them. It was unusual for the girl to be away for this long. His eyes narrowed slightly as he also noticed the lack of her belongings. Kisame noticed this slight movement.  
"What is it?"  
"Where's the girl?"  
Kisame blinked. He looked around.  
"I don't know. Her stuff was here a little while ago."  
Itachi inclined his head slightly. Used to his silences, Kisame returned to his own thoughts. Without a word, Itachi rose and swept out of the clearing.

Sapphire orbs stared back at her out of the lake. Crystal water flowed below her, unaware of the troubles deep within her heart and mind. Slender fingers disrupted the smooth flow. Falling drops distorted the glassy surface.  
"Kaiyo…" she breathed. She remembered, for the first time in a long time, the crimes she had committed that night.

_"I told you we shouldn't have gone. All you ever do is get us in trouble. And now look, father's going to kill us when he hears about this!"  
"He won't." she snapped, cutting her younger sister off. "If you don't say anything, he won't know."  
"But Kairi…"  
"No." she growled. "You don't get it, do you Kaiyo? Whenever we've got yelled at and punished for something, it's always because you let it slip somewhere. Every time I tell you to not say anything, and what do you do? You tell someone." She turned on her heel and strode away from her sister. She could feel that familiar anger, that hatred towards her imouto, towards her family. She strode past her aniki, past her father and into her room. Locking herself away from the world, she continued her coming home routine.  
__**I hate you**__  
The words were carved deep. She paused, breathing heavily, watching the scarlet liquid slide down her ivory skin. She tilted her head back slightly, eyes closed, mouth open, letting the pain wash over her. Noises from the road below her window caused her to snap back to herself. Her eyes locked with her reflection's in the mirror opposite her bed. She growled softly. She saw her sister in herself. She rose from her position on her bed and crossed to the window. Looking down she could see two other Mist-nin laughing and fooling around. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. The noise was going straight through her head. The anger began boiling inside her. Her fingers found her kunai and the noise stopped._

She heard Kaiyo before she saw her. The barely muffled gasp attracted her older sister's attention.  
"You killed them…?" she choked. "Naze? Kairi?"  
Kairi's hatred of this weak thing before her, whom she was forced to call her twin, became loathing. The third kunai found her searching fingers. She watched with vague interest as the sliver of silver found the girl's heart. Kairi's reflection crumpled before her. Kaiyo's face was frozen in an expression of horror, sorrow and confusion. Kairi examined her silently for a second, before heaving the body up and transporting it to outside the village.

"Shisuta!"  
Kairi looked up from her packing, to see her aniki leaning in the doorway.  
"Nani? I'm busy?"  
He grinned at her.  
"You're always busy Kairi-baka."  
She shrugged, turning her back on him.  
"Going on a mission?"  
"No." She replied calmly.  
She could sense her brother's confusion, even with her back to him.  
"Then why are you packing? Kairi?" Receiving no answer, he crossed the space between them and turned her to face him.  
"I'm leaving." She stated calmly, her gaze locking with his. She saw the shock filter through his eyes.  
"Nani?! Naze?!"  
"Because I must. I'm being suffocated in this house, Taro."  
"Because of chichioya? I'll talk to him."  
She shook her head.  
"It's no use. You know what he's like. He'll forbid me leave this house."  
"But you don't have to leave! Get your own apartment, fine. But leave the village?!"  
"Taro." She murmured softly. "I don't wish to leave either, but he has left me no choice. I must go." She removed his hand from her arm, slung her pack over her shoulder and strode for the door.  
"Saraba, aniki." She whispered, pausing momentarily at the door, before stepping outside, into the cold dark.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Storyline, Kairi and Kaiyo belong to me.**_

Frozen Hearts and Dark Pasts - Part Two

Itachi growled in frustration as the tracks came to a dead end. He now recalled someone Kairi had been teamed with earlier commenting on her unnerving ability to vanish without a trace. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Ignoring the way her tracks said, he turned left and strode forwards, trusting his instincts to find the idiot he was forced to call a team mate.

Her fingers trembled as silver found ivory, bit deep and tasted crimson. The pain washed through her system, warming her, comforting her. This pain was familiar. It was soothing. Old wounds, reopened, gleamed in the moonlight.  
**I hate you.**  
Those words said it all. Kaiyo laughed at her from within her own reflection.  
"Leave me alone…" she whispered. "Why me? Why choose me?"  
"Kairi?" The deep, masculine voice reached her ears, but she didn't hear it. The silver moved again.  
**Kill me.**  
"Kairi!" Nearer this time. She managed to drag her attention away from the fascinating sight of crimson on ivory. Scarlet clouds on a black background were all she saw before she fell into darkness.

_"Kairi! Kairi!"  
She growled as her imouto burst through the door and collided with her.  
"What do you want Kaiyo! Haven't I told you about just bursting in?" Furious scarlet eyes met with worried sapphire ones.  
"I'm sorry… I only wanted to tell you that… well…" she pulled a stuffed black bear from behind her back. "Toshiya is fixed now."  
Kairi's eye twitched as she glared at her sister.  
"OUT! GET OUT OF MY ROOM, NOW!!"  
Kaiyo fled with a scream, Kairi chasing her with a katana._

"Kairi! Wake up! For Kami's sake, wake up!"  
Cerulean eyes, hazy with sleep, greeted him.  
"'Tachi?"  
"Of course it's me." He growled.  
She frowned in confusion.  
"How did you get here?"  
"I found you. You passed out from your idiotic methods of losing blood and I brought you back here."  
Kairi glanced around, and true enough, she lay in the clearing that she had left a couple of hours previously.  
"Where's Kisame?"  
"Keeping an eye out."  
Nothing else was said for a long time.  
"Why did you leave?"  
Kairi glanced across at him.  
"Why?"  
"Just tell me." He growled.  
"No."  
"Tell me. Tell me what caused you to leave us, cover your tracks and carve yourself up."  
Kairi curled up in a defensive ball beneath her covers.  
"I was remembering."  
Itachi leaned closer.  
"Remembering what?" he pressed.  
"Why do you even want to know? You never care about anyone!" she hissed in reply. Itachi sneered.  
"I care when it affects the possible outcome of the mission I so happen to be carrying out with you. So tell me, what were you remembering?"  
"Why I left Mist."  
Itachi looked intrigued now.  
"And why did you?"  
Kairi sighed and turned to face him.  
"I murdered my twin sister."

"That's all you did?"  
Kairi eyed him distastefully. Itachi continued.  
"All you did was kill your twin sister and two Mist-nin?"  
"No." she replied, sounding utterly frustrated. "I've killed countless Mist-nin over the years, it's just never been pinned on me. Until I killed Kaiyo." She groaned in frustration, and punched a tree. The bark shattered and she left a huge hole in the trunk from the force of her chakra-laden punch. Kisame, standing nearby, moved a few feet further away from her. Kairi sighed and rested her forehead against the shattered bark.  
"I see her in me. Everyday I look in the mirror and see her. It's like she's haunting me…"  
Silence greeted her remark. Itachi shrugged, grabbed his bag and walked off. Kisame watched him go then followed suit. Kairi scowled. How he irritated her. That Uchiha. Growling to herself, and mindful of the throbbing in her arm, she grabbed her pack and strode after the two males.

"Why does it have to be the mountains? Of all places to send us, why the mountains?"  
"Stop complaining Kairi."  
"I'm not complaining! I'm merely doing so much as to contemplate our situation out loud!" She received a blank look from Kisame in reply. Itachi had remained silent throughout their exchange of comments. He half-glared at them over his shoulder, before continuing through the crisp whiteness that surrounded them. Kairi eyed the snow thoughtfully, scooping up a handful. She glanced at Kisame then at Itachi pointedly. Kisame looked shocked and shook his head. Kairi just grinned evilly, shaped the snow and threw it. The narrow mountain path resounded with the solid thud of it connecting with the back of Itachi's head. He stopped dead. Kairi froze. Very slowly, Itachi turned. His eyes were crimson slits. Kisame moved stealthily out of range. Kairi giggled nervously, moving backwards as Itachi stepped forwards, and then she was gone. Kisame studied Itachi thoughtfully as he turned around and continued back up the frozen path. It was unlike the Uchiha to spare someone who crossed him. If that had been someone else, they would have been dead before they could draw a breath. How comes this girl was special? Shaking his head slightly, Kisame followed his team mate along the frozen snow.

It was nearly midnight before Kairi risked returning to her team mates. Itachi had gone for one of his wanders and Kisame was quite happily snoring in his tent. Shrugging off her pack, Kairi settled herself before the fire, wrapping her cloak tighter around her. She pulled her knees to her chin and sighed. It was so cold and dark. Just like her life. She needed light in her world. She watched the fire dance in the breeze, vibrant oranges, reds and yellows entwining, the bright flames licking hungrily at the dark sky. As she watched the leaping tongues of flame, she felt herself drifting, relaxed and lulled into a peaceful state. With a gentle sigh, she settled down on the ground beside the fire and slid into a world of dreams.

He barely knew where his feet were carrying him as he wandered through the barren landscape. Snow crunched beneath his sandaled feet and the moon glimmered palely above. Icy blasts of wind threatened to tear him from his precarious path along the cliff top. He ignored the wind, the cold, the frozen water beneath his feet and focused his thoughts. His brother, Konoha, Kairi and his dead clan fought for the spot light. His thoughts rested on his clan, and that night so long ago. He remembered his brother's tears, and his last words to him. Itachi's brows now formed a 'v' as he thought of what had happened. His family depressed him, his little brother most of all. He stopped dead in his tracks as he discovered his feet had carried him full circle back to the campsite during his musings. His eyes rested on Kairi curled up contentedly beside the fire, sheltered by the large rocks to one side of her. His brows rose slightly from their frown at the sight of her sleeping so peacefully. What was it about her that made him feel better? More, relaxed? He crouched beside her as he thought back to earlier that day, and the snowball. There had been a playful shine in her eyes that had fled as soon as she'd seen his anger. His fingers froze, just centimetres from her cheek as she shifted in her sleep, frowning slightly. He moved back until he was sitting against the boulder. He wanted to see that look again, that look where all pain and sorrow was forgotten, for a time at least, replaced by childish playfulness. He groaned lightly. This was the last time he was getting himself paired with this girl. She distracted him.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Storyline, Kairi and Kaiyo belong to me.**_

Frozen Hearts and Dark Pasts - Part Three

Kairi hovered patiently beside Kisame as Itachi relayed their mission results to their Leader. She beat Kisame to the door when they were dismissed, failing to notice Itachi remain behind. Leader looked up in surprise as Itachi moved towards him.  
"You were dismissed, Itachi." He said smoothly, rifling through papers on his desk.  
"I can not be teamed up with Kairi again." Itachi's voice was emotionless as always as he spoke. Leader looked at him with vague interest.  
"And why would that be?"  
"She distracts me. It would threaten the outcome of any mission I was with her on."  
Leader looked thoughtful, then he waved Itachi away.  
"I'll consider it."  
Itachi said nothing, leaving the room as quickly as was polite.

"You two are going north to deal with some people who are trouble to us. Hidan and Kakuzu will meet you in two days time with full details of the mission. Dismissed."  
Zetsu slid out the door before Kairi, just as she was about to leave, Leader called her back.  
"You will not be paired with Itachi again. Dismissed."  
Kairi nodded silently, leaving without a word. She held herself proudly, and kept her face and eyes emotionless, even though, inside, she was falling apart. Finally, she reached the sanctity of her room and collapsed on the bed. For the first time in her life, she was attacked by huge sobs, shaking her entire body and leaving her exhausted.  
"Why?" she managed to whisper as her sobs died away. "Why have you pushed me away? Have I offended you somehow?"  
No answers came to her questions. The room around her remained as melancholy and still as it had done since she had moved here. She rolled onto her back, examining the ceiling.  
_Everything just flees me. _She thought absently. _I'm not surprised considering who I am. If he doesn't want to know me, fine by me. I won't let it get me down. I'll remain strong. I'll remain Kairi of the Mist._ She rose smoothly from her bed, grabbed her pack and strode down the corridor. Her dark hair gleamed in the dim light, and there was a new glint in her eyes. Zetsu straightened as he saw her. This was a force not to be reckoned with. This was a new Kairi, a stronger Kairi. He liked her.  
"Shall we?" Kairi purred, walking past him.  
"After you by all means." He replied, already following her. This, was going to be fun.


End file.
